Country Singles Jubilee 9.14.09: The Under The Radar Edition
Posted by Jasper Jones on 09.14.2009
The Jubilee makes a temporary change of format this week. Inside you'll find information on five male artists who have been perpetually under the radar of mainstream country music. Check them out! I bet you won't regret it!
Welcome back, Jubileers!
Country Music Tidbits
It's CMA Awards Time!
The annual Country Music Association award nominees have been announced. There ceremony will shown live on ABC from the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on November 11th, 2009. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are returning to host the event. Here are the nominees for some of the major awards with my pick in bold.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait Taylor Swift
Keith Urban
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kenny Chesney Brad Paisley
Darius Rucker
George Strait
Keith Urban
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Randy Houser
Jamey Johnson
Jake Owen
Darius Rucker Zac Brown Band
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Eagles
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts Zac Brown Band
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Big & Rich Brooks & Dunn
Joey + Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
"Chicken Fried"
Zac Brown Band
Produced by Keith Stegall
Atlantic Records
"I Run To You"
Lady Antebellum
Produced by Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley
Capitol Records Nashville
"In Color"
Jamey Johnson
Produced by The Kent Hardly Playboys
Mercury Nashville
"People Are Crazy"
Billy Currington
Produced by Carson Chamberlain and Billy Currington
Mercury Nashville
"Then"
Brad Paisley
Produced by Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois
Arista Nashville
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
American Saturday Night
Brad Paisley
Defying Gravity
Keith Urban
Fearless
Taylor Swift
Love On The Inside
Sugarland
That Lonesome Song
Jamey Johnson
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director)
"Boots On"
Randy Houser
Directed by Eric Welch
"Love Story"
Taylor Swift
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
"People Are Crazy"
Billy Currington
Directed by The Brads
"Start A Band"
Brad Paisley (duet with Keith Urban)
Directed by Jim Shea
"Troubadour"
George Strait
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
MUSIC TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris Knight is a country singer and songwriter from my home state of Kentucky. He's an old fashion fellow who has tried to conquer the country music world the right way through hard work instead of trying to gain instant fame on a reality show or using gimmicks. Knight worked for almost ten years as a mine inspector before being inspired by Steve Earle on the radio. He'd learned to play guitar as a child, but Earle inspired him to try his hand at songwriting. After six years of working on songs, Knight packed up and moved to Nashville where he soon got a gig on songwriter's night at the Bluebird Cafe. While performing there, he caught the attention of Frank Liddell, who signed him to a publishing deal with Bluewater Music. Not long after this, Liddell got an artist and repertoire (A&R) position with Decca Records, and he signed Knight to a recording contract. At the time of the release of his first album, Knight was still living in a trailer on 90 acres of land.
Knight hasn't had a ton of mainstream success with his own recording career. He's released six albums since his 1998 debut, but only one has cracked the the Top 40 with several not charting at all. However, he's got a very, very dedicated fan base. He's won over a lot of people, including his peers, with his incredible songwriting skills. Artists that have recorded songs written by Chris Knight include Montgomery Gentry ("She Couldn't Change Me"), Cross Canadian Ragweed ("Cry Lonely"), Blake Shelton ("It Ain't Easy Being Me"), Ty Herndon ("Love At 90 Miles an Hour"), and many others. One place where he's in like Flint is The Lone Star State. Due to his popularity in Texas, Governor Rick Perry has deemed him an "honorary Texan".
Songs to check out by Chris Knight: "It Ain't Easy Being Me", "Framed", "Love and a .45", "Becky's Bible", "Enough Rope"
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Sometimes I am surprised by people who know Robert Earl Keen, Jr. When I mention his name, seven times out of ten someone will recognize him as the guy who sings "Merry Christmas From the Family" or in some more rare cases, the guy who sings "The Road Goes On Forever". I just wish people knew him beyond those two songs, because Keen is a very underrated musician and songwriter. I love the man's sense of humor and the care-free way he will write a song about any subject. He's got a twisted fairy tale called "Mr. Wolf and Mamma Bear", a song wondering why anyone would want to live in Phoenix, AZ. called "Furnace Fan", a three minute ditty about a Hank Williams impersonator dressed in drag called "The Great Hank Williams", a song about a guy who hunts armadillos with his car called "Armadillo Jack", and bunch of other oddball songs.
Robert Earl Keen, Jr. got started in music after becoming dissatisfied with the college music scene. His disappointment inspired him to pick up a guitar and start working on songs. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1980 and moved to Austin, TX. Soon after arriving in Austin, Keen started to play in the local nightclubs building a steady following playing his own folk, country, and blues inspired music. In 1984 he financed and recorded his own album and began to sell it at shows. Since he had conquered Austin, Keen decided to move to Nashville, TN. in 1986. Things didn't work out so well there though. He was disenfranchised by the polished pop country coming out of Nashville and was irritated by not being able to land a recording contract. He packed his bags and moved by to Austin. Not long after this, Keen released his debut national album, West Textures. His career began to take off and folks began to take notice in 1993 with the release of his critically acclaimed second album A Bigger Piece of Sky. Since 1993, Keen as released twelve albums and one greatest hits compilation. His highest charting album to date is 2001's Gravitational Forces, which peaked at Number 10 on the country album charts.
Songs to check out by Robert Earl Keen, Jr.: "Mr. Wolf and Mamma Bear", "Furnace Fan", "Corpus Christi Bay", "The Road Goes On Forever", "Merry Christmas From The Family", "Whenever Kindness Fails"
Fred Eaglesmith
I bought my first Fred Eaglesmith record on a whim. I was at a used music shop thumbing through the country CDs. I must have flipped through a million Garth Brooks and Wynonna Judd albums. I wanted to listen to something new and had almost given up hope when I came across Fred Eaglesmith's Lipstick, Lies, and Gasoline. I gave it a glance over and decided to pick it up. It was only three bucks. No real loss there if it turned out to be a stinker. Although, three bucks can get me twelve chicken nuggets now. Nuggets or no nuggets, my three bucks was well spent. The album was full of great alt-country music. Eaglesmith's rough vocals mixed with his songs of desperation make for a very effective combo.
Fred Eaglesmith is an alt-country singer/songwriter from The Great White North. His songs echo back to the days of Merle Haggard. They're full of down-and-out folks dealing with the loss of love and livelihood. When the songs aren't depressing, they're usually about trains, tractors, rural life, guns, drinking, farming, and any number of country things. Eaglesmith is also handy at story songs that often include some sort of plot twist or surprise ending. He likes to keep you on your toes. His back-up band is sometimes billed as The Flying Squirrels and sometimes as The Flathead Noodlers depending on what type of music they're playing that night. The Flying Squirrels play country and rock while The Flathead Noodlers play bluegrass.
Songs to check out by Fred Eaglesmith: "Alcohol & Pills", "Thinkin' 'Bout You", "Water In The Fuel", "Seven Shells", "I Like Trains"
I'd love to have a cup of coffee and a conversation with Tom Russell. The man has been all over the world, seeing and doing many things. He graduated with a degree in criminology from the University of California, taught school in Nigeria during the Biafran War, he's lived in Norway and Spain, played music in a circus in Puerto Rico, and was even a taxi driver in Queens, NY for a while. He has to have some interesting stories! Some of those stories you can here in his songs. Russell's music mixes together elements of Texas rock, country, Tex-Mex, folk, and good old cowboy music. Other musicians who have recorded his songs include Johnny Cash, Dave Alvin, Suzy Bogguss, k.d. lang, Guy Clark, and many others. Not only is Tom Russell an incredible musician and songwriter, but he's done a ton of other creative things as well. He paints folk art and has published three books, a book of songwriting quotes, a book of letters, and a detective novel.
Tom Russell got his musical start as part of a duo with Patricia Hardin known as Hardin & Russell. The two had some minor success and released two albums together before splitting up in 1979. Russell took a break from music for a while and became a cabbie in Queens, NY. It was during this time that he met Andrew Hardin (no relation) who loved Russell's work and convinced him to form a band. They formed The Tom Russell Band with several other musicians. Between 1984 and 1991, the band released four albums inspired by blue-collar America and the band's own experiences in life. Once the early 90s rolled around, Tom Russell started to release his solo material. This includes an acoustic album of cowboy music, some collaborations with blues singer Barrence Whitfield, and his highly acclaimed folk opera The Man From God Knows Where. It was also during the 90s that his song "Outbound Plane" became a Top 10 hit for country singer Suzy Bogguss.
Russell started the 2000s off with a couple of albums inspired by his then hometown of El Paso, TX. Borderline recounts his time on both sides of the border. Hotwalker, the second part of his "American Trilogy" (the first being The Man From God Knows Where), was released in 2005. A Tom Russell tribute album called Wounded Heart of America was released in 2007 featuring artists like Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Iris DeMent covering his songs.
Songs to check out by Tom Russell: "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?", "Touch of Evil", "Stealing Electricity", "Sonora's Death Row", "Tonight We Ride", "Haley's Comet", "Old Heart"
Out all the guys in the column this week, a case could be made that Rodney Crowell doesn't fit into the "under the radar" category. He's had five Number 1 country songs. That's certainly got to disqualify him, right? Wrong. He scored those five Number 1's back-to-back in 1988/1989. Since then, Rodney Crowell has been nothing but a faint blip on the radar of country music. Radio country forgot him a long time ago. It's a huge shame because the best stuff of his career wasn't released until 2001, over ten years after he was hot. He released three albums between 2001 and 2005 that were absolutely masterpieces and completely restored my faith in country music. 2001's The Houston Kid, 2003's Fate's Right Hand, and 2005's The Outsider are three of the greatest alt-country albums of all time. Give them a listen and you'll realize that country music has so much more to offer than the pop crap on the radio.
Rodney Crowell arrived in Nashville from Houston in 1972. He was quickly discovered by Jerry Reed who got Rodney's career going as a songwriter. Emmylou Harris was impressed with Crowell's talent after recording a few of his songs. She soon asked him to join her backing band, The Hot Band, on rhythm guitar. He played in the band for a few years before leaving in 1977 to pursue a solo career. His first two albums were not commercially successful at all. Crowell blames himself for not being able to convey his ideas from the studio to the vinyl. It wasn't long after this that Crowell took a break from his own career to help his wife Rosanne Cash (daughter of Johnny Cash) out with hers.
After working on his wife's highly successful Rhythm & Romance, Crowell got back into business for himself by signing with Columbia Records. It was during his time with Columbia in the late 80s that Crowell attained his highest mainstream success. 1988's Diamonds & Dirt produced five Number 1 consecutive singles ("It's Such a Small World", "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried", "She's Crazy For Leaving", "After All This Time", "Above and Beyond"). Unfortunately, no other album after Diamonds & Dirt had that kind of mainstream success. His follow-up album, Keys to The Highway, produced one Top 10 hit ("If Looks Could Kill"). 1992's Life is Messy contained Crowell's last two Top 40 hits, "What Kind of Love" (# 11) and "Lovin' All Night" (# 10).
Songs to check out by Rodney Crowell: "I Walk The Line (Revisited)", "Shame on The Moon", "Please Remember Me", "Earthbound", "Still Learning How To Fly", "Telephone Road", "The Obscenity Prayer", "Bluebird Wine", "Life is Messy", "Don't Get Me Started", "Sex and Gasoline"
That's it for this week, folks! Come on back next Monday! I'm going to feature five under the radar female country singers! Don't miss it!
